'Hague had time for people you never see Rishi here'

Kevin Donald meets voters in the prime minister’s own seat of Richmond and Northallerton – and they aren’t too happy

- Kevin Donald

Polished boots clatter over the cobbles as a group of uniformed military officers emerge from a flag-raising ceremony onto Richmond’s bustling marketplace. Many stride away in search of lunch after an hour spent in Friary Gardens, where the war memorial stands for the fallen of this historic town in Rishi Sunak’s constituency on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales national park.

Among those who step into the midday sunshine is 69-year-old Paul Betteridge, proudly wearing his campaign medals and a blazer bearing the emblem of his former regiment, Third Royal Tanks, to celebrate Armed Forces Day. Their motto – “Fear nought” – could, for more than a century, have applied to the Conservative Party in this safest of safe Tory seats. But this year, something feels different.

Betteridge and his wife Beryl, also 69, shake their heads and laugh when asked how they rate Sunak’s chances of being returned as Richmond’s MP, let alone prime minister. “It’s been a disastrous campaign, and the Conservatives needed a good one more than ever,” says Betteridge. “The campaign started badly with him being filmed standing in the rain, and it got steadily worse from there.”

So has there been a low point, in his view, during this gafferidden election period? Betteridge sighs and says: “Look, I was 25 years in service with the Tank Regiment, serving all over the world, and I worked for the MoD for a long time after that. I’ve been out for 30 years, but I still attend ceremonies like this one today, the flag-raising, because it’s important to remember the sacrifices people made. It seems obvious that we should do that.